The majority also confirms that the question of the ethical component should always be considered in the case of world-changing innovations. According to this, 62 percent consider ethical engagement with AI to be important. 81 percent believe AI should support human action, but not reduce people’s autonomy. The same value is achieved by transparency, more precisely the traceability of decisions by AI, as well as the point of privacy and data quality management. When it comes to sensitive data, such as personal customer information, everything should run particularly correctly.

Technical robustness and security of the algorithms, as well as accountability, were also important to the respondents with 77 percent each. The respondents also wanted their companies to support positive social change, sustainability and ecological responsibility with AI (73 percent). In addition, the algorithm and the data basis should not lead to discrimination (also 73 percent). In theory, according to the results, a large number of those questioned have very high moral standards when it comes to dealing with AI in the company.

Although the topic is given enormous importance in theory, there is still considerable untapped potential in the concrete discussion and implementation, as the study shows.

Diversity, non-discrimination and fairness are strong goals and desires, but only five percent of those surveyed confirm that there are already agreed guidelines and measures for ethical handling of AI in their company. This is a very small proportion, especially when compared to the importance that the respondent attaches to the topic. At 46 percent, there are no guidelines and measures at all. Another 22 percent do not know for sure, but at least suspect that the first discussions are taking place. Companies with AI initiatives are better positioned in most respects, but here, too, one in ten respondents stated that so far there is still no ethical approach (eleven percent).

What can you do within five minutes? A short stretch between desk work? Put on coffee. According to Harvard Business Review and Inside Sales, five minutes is also the maximum response time to online inquiries from potential buyers. Then the buyer has long been concerned with the next provider.

In this brevity, the sales representative has to make groundbreaking decisions: is it worth pursuing these prospects or should the time be devoted to someone else? There is a high risk of spending time on the wrong lead while missing a lucrative contact. This so-called prospecting is a Herculean task in view of the flood of data, leads and website visitors in the digital era: Instead of the ideal five minutes, the average response time is 42 hours according to the Harvard Business Review.

Analyze and Contact

AI can play a key role in automation in sales. In order to relieve employees and teams, the trend is that AI is used in direct customer communication. For example, it analyzes customer needs and imitates the employee’s style of conversation. Then she pre-formulated the customer approach; Sales or marketing employees only have to check and send the cover letter. Pipedrive, a provider of CRM software , has identified a “triumvirate” digital helper as important for prospecting:

• For many website visitors, newer bots are the first contact with the company – and an important aid in prospecting. In a conversation they knock off the interest, may make an appointment with a salesman and passed to the sales.

• Immediately afterwards, an AI-assisted assistant analyzes the customer’s conversation with the chatbot . The algorithms categorize prospective customers based on, for example, order volume and availability and then prioritize the urgency of contacting them.

• Then an AI takes over the customer communication. It analyzes the prospect, the information from the digital assistant and the chatbot, past conversations with comparable leads, the conversation style of the sales employee and more.